(NaturalNews) It's not an exaggeration to say that Colombia might be on the verge of Revolution. There is a virtual blackout of coverage by the American mainstream media concerning the national protest under way in Colombia. What little coverage I've found is biased towards the Colombian Government's version of events. The media's focus is not on the cause of the protest but rather the Colombian Government's accusation that radical Communist groups are infiltrating the protest. The planned protest that started August 19th led primarily by farmers and truckers, has grown to include other groups in opposition to Government policy.
The motivation for the protest was brought to my attention through a source that has close ties to Colombia and has asked to remain anonymous. My source discovered a YouTube video titled Documental 9.70 de Victoria Solano. It's a documentary in Spanish directed by a Colombian college student named Victoria Solano. The Colombian Government had confiscated 70 tons of rice from farmers and buried it in a landfill. This event prompted Victoria Solano to do a project for a college class. She investigated the reasons behind this and other government actions causing so much hardship in Colombia. She discovered that the root cause was the consequences of the Free Trade Agreement between the United States Government and the Colombian Government. The implementation of the terms of the agreement related to agriculture have been carried out by the Colombian Agricultural Institute (ICA). The focus of the documentary is the draconian measures taken by the ICA through Resolution 9.70. The Resolution makes it illegal for farmers to sell or trade produce, unless it's grown from seeds that are government approved. The documentary alleges the privatization of seeds though the enforcement of intellectual property rights has been a disaster for small farmers allowing foreign international corporations to gain control of the entire nation's agricultural industry. Victoria Solano in a short promo video gives an overview of Documental 9.70 with English subtitles.
Campana de crowdfunding para Documental 9.70
I began to investigate the reasons why the Free Trade Agreement negotiated by the Obama Administration was being implicated as the reason for the ICA 's Resolution 9.70. I found part of the answer in an article published by the Washington Fair Trade Organization titled, Monsanto Writes US Trade Deals (really) The article pointed to Islam A. Siddiqui, Chief Agricultural Negotiator as evidence that Monsanto writes the Obama Administration's Free Trade Agreements.
Who is Islam A. Siddiqui?
According to his bio on the government website he serves as Chief Agricultural Negotiator with the rank of ambassador at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. He is responsible for bilateral and multilateral negotiations and policy coordination regarding agricultural trade. Just prior to his appointment he served as Vice President for Science and Regulatory Affairs at CropLife America. From 2001 to 2008, Siddiqui was a registered lobbyist with CropLife America, representing biotechnology companies including Monsanto,BASF, Bayer CropScience, Dow AgroSciences, DuPont, FMC Corp, Sumitomo, and Syngenta.Obama's appointment of Islam Siddiqui in 2010 was extremely controversial. According to Organic Consumers Association in their article 98 Organizations Oppose Obama's Monsanto Man . The article lists the organizations that wanted to block the nomination. Included is details of Siddiqui 's involvement with CropLife America. They also cover his long history of support for conventional pesticide laden farming, and GMO foods. The appointment went through and is proof of another broken promise. During Obama's 2008 campaign he said that "lobbyists won't find a job in my White House."
US-Colombian Free Trade Agreement Is Not Mutually Beneficial.
Free trade agreements are about "managed trade" not free trade. Economist Jeffrey Tucker wrote in his article Free trade Free Trade versus Free-trade Agreements "The Mises Institute has consistently favored free trade-the real thing-while criticizing "free-trade agreements" as mercantilism in disguise "The US. Colombia Free Trade Agreement Fact Sheet on the Council On Foreign Relations website, a proponent of the agreement, backs up Jeffrey Tuckers assertion. It's clearly a boom for big agribusiness however for the protesting farmers in Colombia, it's a bust.
Monsanto's History of Corporatism
"Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power." Benito Mussolini.There are few corporations that epitomize Fascism more than Monsanto. They admitted to violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act that prohibits bribing foreign officials. A violation that has a maximum fine of $2 million per violation and up to five years' imprisonment. Asian Times reported in their article The seeds of a bribery scandal in Indonesia "St Louis-based Monsanto has been forced to pay $1.5 million in fines after owning up to spending more than $700,000 on bribes" Asian Times also pointed out that "there has been no loss of liberty for any of the company's US nationals involved in the corruption." The fine was pocket change for the multinational giant corporation..
Monsanto has an appetite for acquiring corrupt clones. In the article, Delta & Pine settles with SEC on foreign payments Reuters reports, "The SEC said top cotton seed producer Delta & Pine, which has since been acquired by Monsanto Co. (MON.N), through its subsidiary Turk Deltapine Inc. made payments of about $43,000 from 2001 through 2006 to officials of the Turkish Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Affairs."
Fast forward to current times and we see why Monsanto has joined the ranks of Wall Street banksters as being "too big to jail" Govslave.info has complied a list politicians that have received donations ( aka bribes) from Monsanto. They also list high level appointees by the Obama who have ties to Monsanto. Comprehensive List Of Politicians Accepting "Bribes" From Monsanto
I will have to give Monsanto credit they don't discriminate, they share their Fascist tendencies with American farmers too as reported by Natural News in this article: Monsanto tries to criminalize saving seeds, drags farmer into court
Plan Colombia: Another Monsanto Human and Environmental Disaster
June 1971 President Nixon officially declares a "war on drugs," identifying drug abuse as "public enemy No. 1." starting America's longest and most expensive war that still hasn't ended.In 1975 Colombian police seize 600 kilograms of cocaine, the largest seizure to date. Drug traffickers respond killing 40 people in one weekend in what's known as the "Medellin Massacre." That brought international attention to Colombia and solidified it's reputation as the cocaine capital of the world.
August 2000 President Bill Clinton gives $1.3 billion in aid to Plan Colombia, an effort to decrease the amount of cocaine produced in that nation. The aid supports the aerial spraying of coca crops with toxic herbicides, and also pays for combat helicopters and training for the Colombian military.
For over a decade Monsanto and it's Co-conspirator Dyncorp have sprayed Roundup Ultra - a toxic blend of pesticides including glyphosate, cosmoflux and POEA, on countless acres of beautiful Colombian land. The combination of spraying toxic herbicide on the coca fields, violent drug gangs and cartels, have taken a heavy toll on the people of Colombia.. BBC reported recently that
Colombia tops IDMC internally displaced people list
The people of Vietnam , decades after being exposed to Monsanto's horrendous "Agent Orange" are still suffering from widespread grotesque birth defects. I hope the people of Colombia don't suffer the same fate.
Monsanto's deadly road trip.
Here's links to articles that show the War on Drugs is far from over in Latin America.Plan Mexico: Plan Colombia Heads for Mexico
America's Drug War In Latin America Expanding
The US Government's intervention into Colombia has caused unimaginable misery. That's not a easy reality for Americans to face. But the people of Colombia are fighting back and they deserve to have a life free from America's merchants of death.
Phil Pepin
Host of Pursuit Of Freedom
Natural News Radio Wednesdays 12pm EST
phil@pursuitoffreedomshow.com
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